Why Is Website Security Important?

While websites make it simpler for businesses to connect with audiences and generate leads, your digital storefront is at-risk of attack from hackers at all times. Website security is a practice that reflects on the overall quality of your brand. A company that opts not to invest in website security communicates a disinterest in keeping visitors’ private information safe from hackers. To protect your business and build long-lasting, trusting relationships with consumers, institute the best in website security practices.

Protect Your Business

In 2016, hackers stole an estimated $1 billion from businesses around the world. Of all the organizations affected by these attacks, 22 percent lost customers, 40 percent lost more than 20 percent of their customer base, 29 percent incurred revenue loss, and 23 percent missed out on invaluable business opportunities. Implementing website security best practices would have saved these organizations the money, time, and effort necessary to recover everything they lost.

Research shows that senior executives place quite a bit of value on website security: 71 percent saying that cybersecurity concerns impede innovation, 30 percent consider cybersecurity growth enablement for their companies, and 44 percent believe top-quality IT security makes their businesses more competitive. Ultimately, that translates into more innovation, a sharper competitive edge, and increased revenue growth for your company.

Rather than compromising your business, invest in the best website security available. When you see news stories about hackers disabling companies’ websites, you will be so grateful that yours did not make the list.

Build Trust with Customers

With everyone’s personal and private information available digitally, identity theft is a major concern for consumers. Users won’t navigate to or purchase from a website that seems at high-risk for security breaches. The complications, hassles, and costs of identity theft outweigh the benefits of almost any product or service you could offer. Therefore the onus is on business owners to execute security tactics so shoppers feel safe perusing your website.  

Appease the Search Engines

If a search engine discovers malware on your website, it will be blacklisted. This means your business will not appear in relevant searches. The only way you will generate traffic to your website is if someone purposely navigates to it. Being removed from a blacklist is arduous and painstaking uphill battle. With a few simple website security measures, you won’t have to worry about Google, Bing, or Yahoo adding you to their blacklists.

Malware isn’t the only thing the search engines are considering when it comes to security. With the release of Chrome v62 in October of 2017, Google began flagging websites with forms and e-commerce stores as insecure if the site does not have an SSL certificate installed. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the security technology that establishes an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This technology ensures that all data passed between the server and the browser remains private. If your site accepts any kind of data from site visitors, you should purchase and install an SSL to keep that data secure (and keep Google happy).

WordPress Website Security Plugins

If your website operates on WordPress, plugins make it easy to improve security with just a few clicks. However, you don’t want to make the mistake of installing a plugin that does not provide the level of website security customers expect. The most recommended WordPress website security plugins include:

• WordFence
• Sucuri Security
• BulletProof Security
• iThemes Security
• All In One WP Security & Firewall

Implementing and maintaining website security is an ongoing task that requires regular attention. If your plate is too full to take on this imperative, yet tedious, chore, connect with the website security experts at Proactive WP to discuss options for managing your site.